Improvement in manufacturing flour



D. R. GLE-M. MANUFACTURING FLOUR.

Elm-95,987, Patented Oct. 19, 1869.

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'1).. R.cLnM, or EDINBURG, VI-IRGI-NIA.

"Letters Patent No. 95,987, dated October 19, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN MANUFACTURING- FLOUR.

The Schedule .rei'en-ed to in these Letters Patent and making of the name.

T0 at whontit may concern Be it known that I, I). It. CLEM, of Edilfburg, in the county of Shenandoah, and State of Virginia, have-invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Process of Manufacturing Flour; and I do hereby declare that-the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, like letters indicating like parts wherever they occur.

To enable others skilled in the art to construct and use my invention, I will proceed to describeit.

My invention, relates to the manufacture of flour; and consists in an improvement in the process of separating the fine flour from the bran, by means of a novel combination and arrangement of two or more dressingqnachines, with three or more conveyers under each, in connection with two 'or more elevators and conducting-tubes or spouts, so as, by a continuous operation, all of the fine flour may be entirely secured, as hereinaiter explained.

In the drawings-- Figure 1 is a vertical section, on the line .r-z of fig. 2, and

' Figure 2 is a vertical cross-section, on the line 31-3 of fig. 1.

As is well known, when the flour comes from the millstones, it is passed through a dressing-machine, for the purpose of separating it from the bran; that these machines are so constructed and arranged that the finest ot the flour will go through the upper end of the cylinder, because the finest cloth is placed there, the next finest through the next division, then the middlings through the next division, and, finally, the pollards or sharps through the last divisi'on, 'while the bran, being too coarse to go through any of the divisions, is discharged at the lower end of the cylinder. This is thcusnal process, and by it the flour comes from the mill, of different qualities, the finest flour being comparatively but a small proportion of whole.

The object of my invention is to produce a larger quantity of finer flour from the same quantity of grain than is produced by the old process. To accomplish this, I construct a frame, A, of any size desired, and out of any suitable material, and in the upper-side of the same, iuounttwo dressing-n1acliines,B and C; and under each of these machines, so as to be vertical with them and with one another, I arrange three conveyors, 1) E F and G H I, as clearly shown in fig. 2, and in part in fig. 1.

These conveyers consist of long rectangular troughs, with creepers in each, and are provided, on their under sides, with a series of gates or slides, a and b, as shown in fig. 1.

Opposite the front ends of the dressing-machines and the conveyors, I place the elevators J and K, as shown in both figures, using an elevator for each machine and the conveyers under it.

The head of theconveycr I), 1 connect, by a spout, c, with the flour-chest; the head of the conveyer E,

by a, spout, d, with the lower end of the elevator J the head of the conveyer F, by a spout,'c, with the lower end of the elevatorK; the head of the conveyer G, by spout'f, with the end of the elevator J the head of the convey-er H, by spout y, with the elevator K; and the head of the conveyer I, with chest for middlings or coarse flour, all as clearly shown in fig. 2, and partially in fig. i.

The upper end of elevator J is connected to tho dressing-machine B, by a spoutor pipe, 71, and the upper end of the elevator K is connected to the dressing-machine A, by a spout or pipe, 1', as shown in fig. 2.

The elevators, dressing-machines, and conveyers are all operated in the usual manner, by any convenient power.

Having thus constructed and arrangednny apparatus, the -flour is conveyed from the 1nill to the lower end of elevator J, and by itto spout la, and then into the front end of dressing-machine A. It is bolted through this machine, and falls into conveyor .1).

The machine A being constriu-tcd of wire cloth, or of bolting-cloth of different degrees of fineness, the finest being near the upper end, and growing coarser toward the lower end; the finest flonr will fall from tho upper end, and into the upper end of the conveyor D, and the coarser along toward its lower or'opposite end.

By drawing out one or more of the slides a, olLthc lower side of the'conveyer D, at any desired distance from its head, alloi' thc flour between the upper one of these slides, thus drawn out, and the head, will be carried forward to the spout O, and pass through it to the flour-chest.

The point at which the upper slide ashould be drawn from the conveyer must be determined by the operator, and so as to oarryofi the quality of the flour desired.

The flowbetween the point at which the slides a. are drawn and the lower end of the conveyor, will fall into the conveyer E, and as this is of different qualities, that being nearest to the head of the conveyer the finest, I cut this oh by withdrawing the slides b, when all of the flour between the point at which the slide is withdrawn, and thehead of the conveyor, is carried to the spout (I, then passes to the elevator J, and on to the dressing-machine B; is then dressed again, along with the rest, as before, and its finer parts separated in the conveyer D, as before.

The portion of the flour in the couvcyer F, between the point of separation and the lower end of thec'onvey'er, falls into the conveyer F, is carried forward to its head, and then, by the spout ve, to the lower end of the elevator K, and by the elevator and spout i, to the flour thus carried is about the same degree of fineness as that carried by the spout d from the conveyer E, and they are carried.together up to the dressing-machine B, and thence on as before.

The flour cut ed in the conveyer G, between the point of cut and the lower end of the conveyer, falls into the c'onveyer H, and here it is again divided; the finer portions of it being of about the average fineness of that passing through conveyer F, is carried forward, and passes through spout g, to the lower end of the elevator K, where it mingles-with the flour from conveyer F, and is carried with it to dressing-machine G, and thence on through it, as before, to the conveyers for division.

The flour cut oil in the conveyer H, that is not carried forward to its head, falls into conveyer I, and is carried along and passed into the receptacle for the coarse middlings. The direction in which the flour is carried through the spout-s is clearly shown by the dark arrows.

By this process, it will be seen that the fine flour is thoroughly separated from the brown stuff. j The exact point at which the separation should be made m ust be determined by the operator. He may makemore separations than I have shown and described, and may use more conveyers,and still adhere to the process.

I have found, by actual experiment, that I canl'produce finer flour, and in larger quantities from the same amount of grain, than is produced by any of the ordinary processes now in use.

While my dressing-machines, with the conveyors under them, are represented as being side by side, it is obvious that they, with the elevators, may he arranged in any way to suit the convenience of the mill in. which they may be placed; that is, they may be on the same, or they may be placed in different stories of the same building.

It is also obvious that more than two dressing-machines maybe used, or a greater or less number of conveyors be arranged under each machine; and, also, that the exact point at'which the flour in the conveyers should be divided, will depend somewhat upon the quality of the flour it is desired to produce.

It is also obvious that this process may be extended to as many dressing-machines and elevators as thecapacity of .the mill would admit, and the fineness of the flour desired would require.

Having thus described my invention,

What I claim, is-- 1. The combination of a series of graded bolts, elevators, eonveyers, and spouts, whereby the second grade of flour from the first bolt, and the first grade from the second bolt, are. both returned to the first bolt, and so on continuously, with any desired number of bolts, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the elevators J K, dressing- I machinesB O, and the conveyers D E F and G H I, provided with the gates or slides a b, when constructed and arranged with connecting-tubes, substantially as herein described, and for the purpose set forth.

Witnesses: D. R. GLEM.

W. G. DODGE, -J. MoKnzmnY. 

